Typically, as previously posted, I like to fast from dinner till dinner, but occasionally I feel the need to eat earlier than that. It’s tough to do initially when someone’s been on a scheduled eating-system most of their life, but after some fasting and returning 100% to whole foods, it’s easier to sense what your bodies asking for.

Yesterday I felt the need to eat a bit earlier, so on my break around 3, I walked around, finally making my way over to Whole Foods. They break up their rotisserie chickens into leg quarters; I chose plain, no salt, over teriyaki or chipotle. Then I put together a very small salad and two hard-boiled eggs. Good to go for about $6.

While this is far less than I consume in a day, oh and I had an apple earlier too, I felt pretty full by the time I got home. I made a simple salad (I have olive oil this time.. phew) and a banana to kick up my energy. It was a while later that evening when I finally decided to make veggies: Fresh Lacinato Kale with lemon, olive oil, onions, oregano and turmeric. Quite good.. very Greek. Then I made 2 strips of bacon and an egg.. my protein staple of choice 🙂

After dinner, I read up again on the 30 Day Challenge on MDA, and focused on how veggies sub-in for grains/starches as my carbs. This is really simplified, but basically we can derive most of the energy we need throughout the day on quality fats (animal/coconut/avocado/olive/nuts). And to round it off we need a little extra from fresh vegetable/fruit sources. For those, like me, looking to lean down, keeping the daily carb total between 50-100g is perfect (Bullets from MDA):

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300 or more grams/day– Danger Zone!

Easy to reach with the “normal” American diet (cereals, pasta, rice, bread, waffles, pancakes, muffins, soft drinks, packaged snacks, sweets, desserts). High risk of excess fat storage, inflammation, increased disease markers including Metabolic Syndrome or diabetes. Sharp reduction of grains and other processed carbs is critical unless you are on the “chronic cardio” treadmill (which has its own major drawbacks).

150-300 grams/day – Steady, Insidious Weight Gain

Continued higher insulin-stimulating effect prevents efficient fat burning and contributes to widespread chronic disease conditions. This range – irresponsibly recommended by the USDA and other diet authorities – can lead to the statistical US average gain of 1.5 pounds of fat per year for forty years.

100-150 grams/day – Primal Blueprint Maintenance Range

This range based on body weight and activity level. When combined with Primal exercises, allows for genetically optimal fat burning and muscle development. Range derived from Grok’s (ancestors’) example of enjoying abundant vegetables and fruits and avoiding grains and sugars.

50-100 grams/day – Primal Sweet Spot for Effortless Weight Loss

Minimizes insulin production and ramps up fat metabolism. By meeting average daily protein requirements (.7 – 1 gram per pound of lean bodyweight formula), eating nutritious vegetables and fruits (easy to stay in 50-100 gram range, even with generous servings), and staying satisfied with delicious high fat foods (meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds), you can lose one to two pounds of body fat per week and then keep it off forever by eating in the maintenance range.

0-50 grams/day – Ketosis and Accelerated Fat Burning

Acceptable for a day or two of Intermittent Fasting towards aggressive weight loss efforts, provided adequate protein, fat and supplements are consumed otherwise. May be ideal for many diabetics. Not necessarily recommended as a long-term practice for otherwise healthy people due to resultant deprivation of high nutrient value vegetables and fruits.

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After adding up (rough est.) my carb-intake for the day, I was just around 85g, so not bad, but I realized that the apple and banana were the biggies. I realized why fruits on the paleo diet are the new “candy”. Together they made up almost 50 of those grams!

Fruit aren’t evil, but they should be kept in check for two reasons:

Vegetables are much more nutrient-dense per calorie

Fruit aren’t what they use to be; they’ve been bre over the centuries to be sweeter… higher in fructose/glucose

But hey! nothing wrong with eating fruit instead of other sweets, as long as they’re still treated as moderate snacks. and one thing I notice while being Paleo for the month, is that I do sometimes just want something sweet.. so many salty, savory, rich, oily flavors can be too much without some sweetness to balance it out.

Technically, we’re encouraged on the challenge to seldomly indulge ourselves with dark chocolate, wine or cheese, but I’m staying strict for the 30 days because it’s great to know that if need be, I could.

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About Primal Pig

“Let food be your medicine, and medicine be your food.” -Hippocrates
I'm 28 years old, living in Boston. I studied international business and culinary arts. I try to incorporate my experience abroad, nutritional research and ancient culinary traditions in my life. I'm not trying to change the world, but I'm taking charge of how I make my way through.
Interested in paleo / primal living, or just tired of convention wisdom? Go ahead and question away.. many people don't have enough questions! Too many "whatever you say" answers, accepting "experts" regurgitated "knowledge". If you're curious about other nutritional / lifestyle options, let me know. If I don't know exactly what you need, I can at least point you in the right direction.